Shi No Miko
by TheTroubledNeophyte
Summary: To ensure that the Hallows would never be used again, Iris Potter partook in a ritual that would seal them. But things were not easy, the Death Eaters attacked and in order to prevent them from harnessing the Hallows, Iris Potter was sent away with the resurrection stone. Years later, a power threatens the Land of Fiore. What is the connection between Iris and the threat to Fiore?
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER**

_This is purely a work of fiction. None of the characters, places, items, or events that will be read is mine._

**SHI NO MIKO**

**SUMMARY****: **_Four hundred years ago a war heralded by the discovery of three deadly items known as the Deathly Hallows was ended and the Dark Lord Voldemort took his last breath. To ensure that the Deathly Hallows would never be used for evil intentions, Iris Potter partook in a ritual that would seal the Hallows with her as the instrument. But things are not as easy as it seems, the remaining followers of the Dark Lord attacked before the ritual was complete. In order to prevent the remaining Death Eaters from harnessing the power of the Hallows, Iris Potter was sent away with the resurrection stone. In the present time, a new power made its presence known to the Guild Masters, a power that threatens to take over the entire land. What is the connection between Iris Potter and the power that threatens the Land of Fiore?_

**CHAPTER 1: THE PRIESTESS OF DEATH**

"We lost many friends and family along the way but in the end we were able to persevere and defeat our enemies. You have done more than what I thought you were capable of Iris."

Iris Potter sat in front of the Headmaster's chair in Hogwarts. It has been a week since the Last Battle where she and Albus duelled against Voldemort. It was a tough fight even if it was two against one. Albus may have had countless years of magical knowledge behind him but he was old and did not have the same agility and stamina as he did years ago when he fought against Gellert Grindlewald. Iris may have the reflexes and staying power that comes with her age but she lacks the knowledge that both her headmaster and her opponent have in spades.

Voldemort on the other hand has knowledge over magic that even Albus did not dare acquire because of the twisted gift that comes with the usage of Dark Magic. Due to his obsession with the Dark Arts along with the Neutral Magic he has mastered all throughout the years of his living time, entrapment in the Spirit Realm, and his resurrection; Voldemort knows facts that not even Albus could fathom about. Since he was resurrected into a body that was, for all intents and purposes, new; he had the reflexes and strength he once had during his prime. He was basically a better version of Iris and Albus combined.

It did not help matters that prior to the Last Battle, Voldemort managed to win the allegiance of the Elder Wand that Dumbledore possesses. A wand whose power is unmatched by any other that has ever been made. A wand that was presumably Death himself has crafted. It was a rough and arduous duel between the three of them.

In preparation for their final duel, Iris and Albus both brought one Hallow with them. Albus wore the Resurrection Stone on his left hand in guise of a ring and Iris brought his father's heirloom, the Invisibility Cloak. Both of their Hallows did not have the firepower that the Elder Wand was able to give Voldemort but it was all that they had. So in the end the Hallows that was claimed by the three brothers from Death faced one another in a final battle to decide who will give up their life and be claimed by Death.

In the end, it was Voldemort's own arrogance that finished him off. He was overconfident and relied too heavily on the power given to him by the Elder Wand. He would cast curses meant to inflict excruciating pain and then watch and ridicule both Albus and Iris as they try to get up.

It was during one of his spiels about how useless it was for them to try and take him down did Albus and Iris manage to defeat the Dark Lord. Albus poured all of his remaining magic and used the power of the Resurrection Stone. Spirits of those who fell in the hands of the Dark Lord came forth. From the prostitute that Voldemort killed back in his teenage years down to Remus and Tonks. It was a testament to Albus' magical powers as to how many spirits he was able to bring forth to the living realm. Voldemort was understandably surprised at having seen all the people he murdered stand before him. While Voldemort was distracted by the spirits that Albus was able to call from the dead, Iris wore the Invisibility Cloak, effectively hiding herself from Voldemort's sight. With the Sword of Gryffindor at hand, Iris snuck behind Voldemort and pierced his heart with the sword.

With his death, the spirits called on by Albus slowly dispersed, revealing the dead body of the Dark Lord impaled on the sword wielded by the Girl-Who-Lived. A few seconds of silence passed before the first shouts of victory were heard all throughout the battlefield. Some of the surviving followers of the Dark Lord, the Death Eaters, were captured while some of them were able to escape.

After the initial cries of celebration, cries of mourning were heard as each of the surviving fighters gathered their departed allies. Albus and Iris, together with the remaining fighters, burned the bodies of the dead and contained the ashes in a magical sphere. With their remaining magical strength, all of them used their magic to transfigure the ashes into a big statue. The survivors had no definite shape in mind but they were clear in their want to create something that would always remind them that the souls of those who departed may have passed but their ideals and the reasons they fought for would still continue on living. In the end, the ashes were transfigured into a giant statue resembling a phoenix.

After that grand feat of magic, Albus and Iris collapsed due to magical exhaustion. They were confined and medicated for a week to replenish their magical core and to cure all the injuries they obtained during the battle. Albus almost surrendered to his numerous injuries but his unfailing stubborn attitude helped him push through.

Once they were released Iris and Albus decided to talk about the aftermath of the war and what they would do to maintain the peace they so hardly fought for which lead to today, with Iris sitting in front of her former headmaster.

"Desperation and determination makes a person do things he usually does not.", countered Iris to her headmaster's word

"That is true, very true. Would you care for a lemon drop?", Albus said, his hands reaching for his candy stash which Iris easily declined

"So, what are we going to do now, Albus?", Iris asked, resting her back on the chair she was sitting on

"We already have some of the Order members along with the Ministry searching for the remaining Death Eaters and I think they are capable enough to be left alone with their job.", Albus replied, suckling on his sour treat

"What are we going to do then? If we already have forces searching for those who escaped capture then we have nothing left to worry about."

"Ah, that is where you are wrong, young Iris."

"What do you mean?", Iris said, her posture tensing and her mind going back on the past events trying to recall anything they did not manage to accomplish

"What was our biggest obstacle in fighting Tom?", Albus asked Iris, his hands joined in front of him and his blue eyes gazing at Iris from behind his half-moon spectacles.

"The Elder Wand", Iris replied instantly

"That is right, the Elder Wand!", Albus agreed, placing a wooden box containing the wand in question

"What about it, though?", Iris asked; a bit confused about the turn of events.

"You see Iris; the Elder Wand was nothing but a myth to everyone, not only the wand but the entirety of the Hallows as well.", Albus stated "But with the recent turn of events, everyone knows that the Hallows are in fact real and in existence."

"And now that they found out, some of the Dark Lord's avid followers or someone who wishes to replace Voldemort would try and steal them.", Iris finished morosely, finally getting the picture

"Those are my thoughts exactly, Iris.", Albus stood up and searched his extensive bookshelf before grabbing a dark thin book and placing it in front of Iris. "If they are stolen then we could just take them back, that is if the ones who took them are ignorant of their true purpose but if they have knowledge of what the Hallows are exactly meant to do then we would be facing an entirely different problem."

"Purpose, what purpose?", Iris asked Albus

"Do you remember the story of The Three Brothers?", Albus asked in return

"Yes, I have read it."

"Would you say that what it contains were in fact real and not fiction?"

"Of course, now that I've seen the Hallows I hardly think that the story is merely a story."

"But that is where you are wrong, young Iris. The Tale of the Three Brothers is in fact nothing more than a story with little fact contained in it.", Albus revealed to Iris.

"But I do not understand, the Hallows are real, and the three brothers in the story actually lived.", Iris said, confusion swimming in her thoughts.

"Though it is true that there are three brothers who held onto one of the Hallows respectively, the Hallows were not really given to them by Death nor have they ever met Death personified in their lifetime."

"Then how did they get the Hallows?", Iris asked, curiosity lacing her tone

"The Peverell brothers aside from being very talented wizards are rather gifted in the realms of alchemy as well.", Albus revealed "The Hallows was made by the Peverell brothers. The eldest brother has vast knowledge on wandlore, greater than Ollivander's even, and wanted to create a masterpiece that would trump the wands already in existence. The second brother was a researcher whose line of interest runs along the afterlife; he in fact was the one who created the Veil that you so unfortunately encountered during your fifth year. The youngest brother was a combatant; he wished to create something that would make his opponents not know of his presence until it was too late."

"Excuse me, Albus, but how does alchemy come in to this? I mean wandlore needs no alchemy, so does spell crafting, magic imbuement, and item invention."

"That is a very wise observation on your part, Iris. Alchemy was not used in the creation of the Hallows but it was used to strengthen and make their abilities everlasting. Though like all great things, it came with a price."

"And what was the price they paid?", Iris asked

"When they finished the alchemic ritual needed for the longevity of the Hallows, they unknowingly created a Homunculus."

"What is a homunculus?", Iris asked; her mind boggled at the news being laid in front of her.

"A homunculus is an entity, so to speak, that is created when one delves into forbidden acts."

"What is forbidden about what they did though? They merely strengthened their items."

"Ah, but the needed ingredients for the ritual were not really something you can buy off the apothecary."

"What do you mean that it can't be bo-?", Iris stopped, connecting the dots between Albus' words "Human life, they used human life?"

"That is a correct hypothesis, young Iris. They sacrificed human lives to strengthen the Hallows and that sacrifice, in turn, created the homunculus. That homunculus is Death."

"Death, you mean they created The Death?", Iris asked

"No, the homunculus was the reason of their death and that is why the youngest brother named the homunculus Death before he passed on.", Albus clarified for Iris

"But what about the reasons of their death, was it different from the ones that were mentioned in the story?", Iris inquired to Albus

"Yes and no. The eldest brother, believing that the wand he created would be able to defeat the horror they created, faced against Death in a duel. As you know, he died and the wand was passed on to various hands. The second brother, whose pride is his intelligence, invested his time in researching. With the constant threat of death and the stress he got from researching, his mind unhinged and he slowly but surely fell into insanity.", Albus explained

"And what happened to the youngest brother?", Iris asked

"He was a combatant Harry, he had the honour and dignity that his older siblings did not have. Like the first brother he duelled with the homunculus. But unlike the eldest whose overconfidence lead him to boast his powers over the homunculus, the youngest brother treated the homunculus like a warrior, something that even the homunculus itself respected. He got defeated by the homunculus and graciously accepted his death. Before taking his dying breath he named the homunculus Death and he fell into Death's embrace."

"But I haven't seen or heard about this homunculus ever since we got the Hallows. Shouldn't it be already here and trying to kill us all?"

"A very good question, Iris, you see the existence of the homunculus was tied to the connection of the Hallows. When the Hallows underwent the alchemic ritual, they formed a bond with each other that was linked by the lives of those who bound them in the first place, the three brothers.", Albus explained to Iris

"And with all three brothers death, the connection between the three were broken thus erasing the homunculus' existence.", Iris finished Albus' thoughts

"Correct.", Albus affirmed Iris conclusion

"So you see if an enemy manages to steal the Hallows and bind it to himself then he would unknowingly remake the connection that bound the Hallows together, thus releasing the homunculus once again."

"How do we prevent it?", Iris asked, her mind going a mile a minute, thinking about ways that could work "Can't we just destroy them?"

"No, Iris, as I told you before the brothers used a ritual that would make the Hallows' ability everlasting. I am pretty sure there is a way to destroy them but that knowledge is still far away from us."

"Then what if we just place them somewhere no one could ever find them?", Iris suggested

"Nothing remains a secret to those whose mind is set on a goal. We may be able to stall the reunion of the Hallows but we can never stop their eventual gathering."

"What else is there then?"

"We seal them.", Albus answered Iris

"We-what-them now?", Iris asked

"We seal them Iris, we seal their vessels to a dormant state where no one would be able to draw on their abilities."

"How do we do that then?"

"With this.", Albus said pointing to the book that he placed on the table earlier on their conversation.

"In here is the sealing method that the second brother was able to create before his demise. Luckily for us, we already have most of the requirements needed for the sealing ceremony.", Albus continued

"What do we need then?", Iris asked

"We would only need a place where the energy of departed lives are abundant, a centrepiece, and a conduit, so to speak."

"What do you mean by the energy of departed lives? There would be no need for sacrifices, right?", Iris asked, a bit worried about the requirement

"Do not fret, Iris, we won't shed a single life. I wouldn't suggest it otherwise. The energy of departed lives is just a term for the last burst of magic released by an individual.", Albus assured Iris "Our bodies, as you know, serve as a vessel for our magic. Once that vessel is destroyed then the magic leaves the vessel and with no vessel to contain it lingers on the very same place where the wizard or witch died. For the ceremony to work, we need to hold it in a place where those magical energies without a vessel reside."

"So basically it is a place where lots of magical died. Like the grounds of Hogwarts?", Iris concluded

"Correct. The centrepiece of course would be something where we would draw the energy in that place in, making it a new vessel for magic. The phoenix statue in the middle of the grounds would be more than adequate for that job. ", Albus shared with Iris "But, alas, we are at a loss about the conduit."

"What about the conduit? Can't we just transfigure something for it?", Iris asked

"The conduit is, in fact, not an object but a person; a person who will guide the magical energies into the centrepiece. That person would be the bridge that would complete the sealing process."

"I guess you already have someone in mind?", Iris asked Albus, recognizing the fact that Albus never forms a plan that is only halfway finished.

"Yes, I have in fact, you.", Albus stated to Iris

"Me?", Iris asked, her face showing her clear confusion "Why me?"

"Iris, magical energies left by the departed are, for a lack of a better word, wild. The conduit must be at one with his or her magic for them to be capable to tame the energy and follow its bidding."

"So, the conduit is like a priestess in those temples that calm violent spirits? I don't know about you Albus but last time I checked, calming is not exactly my forte. I have more of a gift in pissing people off than calming them.", Iris reminded Albus

"It may be true that your personality has always managed to let people act outside of their comfort zones but that is what exactly makes you calming Iris.", Albus said

"I do not understand, Albus."

"Being calm doesn't necessarily mean that one is quiet or laid-back. Being calm is achieved when you feel confident enough to do things in regards to what you feel. You are calm when you manage to be at one with your emotions and are able to act on them.", Albus explained to Iris, his eyes shining with a joyous light "People who interact with you, whether they be friends or enemies, feel calm enough to let their inner self out. They are able to show you stuff that they would often try to hide from the public. Just like the way you were able to bring forth the bravery in the once meek Mr. Longbottom, the same way you were able to make Lucius act on his baser emotions instead of his calm facade."

"But there are people who are better at all this calming stuff, like Luna! Luna would make a good priestess!", Iris exclaimed

"Ah, yes young Ms. Lovegood does have a way of calming people but be that as it may she does not have the magical prowess that you possess.", Albus countered Iris "The energies you would be taming does not listen to words for they are not sentient and merely energies. They won't be sentient unless they are within a vessel. These energies while vessel-less have all but one desire and function and that is to find a vessel that they could reside in. Words won't be able to tell them that a vessel is prepared for them but an energy similar to them that is controlled by a vessel would surely attract them."

"Like a magnet.", whispered Iris to herself

"Yes! Like a magnet!", Albus exclaimed enthusiastically, the same way he goes on stuff when his partner joins in a conversation "Your magical energy Iris would act like a big magnet that would coat the centrepiece and attract all the energies of the departed. That is why it must be you and not anyone else who does this, you have control over your magic that not even I in my age am able to do."

Iris looked undecided for a moment before acknowledging the truth in Albus words.

"Alright, but how do I do that?", Iris relented

Albus smiled serenely at Iris. Iris suddenly felt nervous when he saw Albus' eyes twinkling. Things tended to be bad for her whenever Albus gets those kinds of eyes.

"Tell me Iris, aside from that disastrous thing you showed in the Yule Ball, did you learn how to dance?"

* * *

"I hate Albus."

Iris said to her friends as she lies panting on the grass of the Hogwarts castle grounds. She opened one of her eyes when she heard several chuckles and giggles. She gave a deep sigh and reprimanded her friends.

"You are my friends, you are supposed to take my side and not make fun of me.", Iris said placing her hands over her eyes to prevent the sun's rays from blinding her.

"Well mate, seeing you trip over your feet is actually pretty funny.", her friend Ron said while munching on an apple.

"I no longer trip on my feet, thank you very much and do you ever stop eating?", Iris asked, hearing the tell-tale sign of Ron's eating.

"Well the point is that you used to trip over your feet, Iris.", Neville exclaimed "I do miss those times that you fall on your face. It is a pity you learned how to dance; I had to find a new form of entertainment when you suddenly became graceful.", Neville continued amidst the laughter surrounding him and his friends.

"Hardy-har-har", Iris said sarcastically "some friends you are, making fun of me when I was clearly struggling."

"It is a friend's job to find the good things in bad times, you know.", Ron stated, grabbing another apple "And the stand-up act that you so often gave us back then was the light in the darkness that is your dance moves."

"Just you wait Ronald! I'll dance on that ritual and I'll be the most elegant priestess you have ever laid your eyes on!", Iris challenged Ron "I'll be so elegant that you will be awed by my presence and have no choice but to profess your unwavering devotion to me! The same goes for you Neville!"

"Dream on Iris!", Ron and Neville said in between gales of laughter

"Don't mind them Iris. They're heads are just swimming with Wrackspurts, they mess with your thoughts you know.", Luna said sagely, her head not lifting from the upside-down Quibbler magazine she is reading "And you were always graceful Iris, it was just that the Dumberinnas were tripping your legs while you were dancing. They are the worst dancers out there, you see, so they like to mess people who are good at it."

"Yeah, it was just like what Luna said! At least I know that Luna is a true friend not like you.", Iris said, using Luna's words as an excuse and sticking her tongue out at Ron and Neville.

"Really Iris?", Hermione said, exasperated "Don't use Luna as an excuse. And you're way too old to be sticking your tongue out.", She then turned her attention to Neville and Ron "And stop goading her you two, you know how she gets when you mention her dance practices before."

"Well, they started it.", Iris said with a huff.

"Real mature Iris.", Hermione said with a fond sigh "Before I forget, do you still need that book you asked me to get for you?"

"Yeah", Iris said sitting up and glancing at Hermione "You have it already?"

"I have it here", Hermione said, ruffling through her book bag to get the book Iris wanted "My mom sent it to me earlier today. She also added this for you. She bought a lot of this last time when she was making our curtains and there were a lot of leftover cloth."

Hermione handed a book and some yellow and turquoise coloured cloth to Iris. Iris took them excitedly and stashed the cloth in her bag and opened the book for her to read.

"What book did you ask for Iris?", Neville asked curiously, trying to peak at the book's cover to get the title."

"How to Make Your Own Stuff Toy", Iris replied, lifting the book to show them the cover which has a group of girls knitting different parts of their respective teddy bears.

"How to make your own stuff toy? Since when were you into all those girl stuff?", Ron asked incredulously

"In case it escaped your notice Ron, I am a girl.", Iris deadpanned, silently daring Ron to say otherwise

"We know that Iris", Neville interjected before Ron puts his foot in his mouth "but you got to admit, you would rather wrestle with the guys than knit with the girls."

"Well, if you must know, I am planning to make a stuffed Hedwig.", Iris said

"A stuffed Hedwig?", all of them asked except for Luna who was still reading The Quibbler.

"Yeah, I never got Hedwig's body back so I decided to make a stuff toy based on Hedwig."

All her friends, including the still-reading Luna, gave a small smile at her words. Hedwig may have been an owl but there was no doubt that Hedwig was the first and closest friend that Iris had ever since she came to the wizarding world.

"Not to underestimate you or anything mate, but do you think you can actually make a Hedwig stuff toy?", asked Ron "It would be better if I ask my mom to make it for you, you know."

"That is why I asked Mione for the book so I can learn how to make one. Besides it won't feel the same if Mrs. Weasley did it instead of me.", Iris said

The rest of their time together was spent in silence as Luna continued on reading her magazine, Neville and Hermione chatting, Ron continuously eating through the basket of apples, and Iris absorbing the contents of her newly-acquired book.

Their group only started to leave when the last rays of sunshine completely vanished. As they were headed for the castle a small pop came and a house-elf stood in front of them.

"Excuse me Ms. Iris Potter, ma'am.", The house-elf said playing with the hem of her pillow case shirt.

"Yes, Winky? Are we needed for something?", Iris asked kindly

Winky gave a nod to Iris.

"Yes, Ms. Iris Potter, ma'am. Professor Dumblebee's asking for Ms. Iris Potter, ma'am, and her friendzies to go to the headmaster's office.", Winky said in her low squeaky voice.

"Alright Winky, we'll head there now, thank you.", Iris said

"It was nothing Ms. Iris Potter, ma'am.", And with that Winky disappeared with a soft pop.

"Dumblebee? Seriously?", asked Neville while they were walking towards the headmaster's office.

"What? I personally think it is a cool name.", replied Iris while trying to stop her laughter "Come on friendzies better not leave Professor Dumblebee waiting."

Laughter echoed down the halls as Iris and her friends continued to walk towards their destination.

* * *

"So what have you called us for, Albus?", asked Iris as she and her friends sat down on the chairs that Albus conjured when they entered his office.

"I would just like to tell you that everything is ready for the ritual to take place", Albus said "and to give you your instructions on what would be expected of you during the ritual."

"Alright, what is it?", Iris asked

"Each of us would be guarding one of the Hallows respectively.", Albus said to all of them "I would be beside the Resurrection Stone."

"Miss Granger and Mister Weasley would be guarding the Invisibility Cloak."

Hermione and Ron nodded their assent.

"Lastly, Miss Lovegood and Mister Longbottom would be placed with the Elder Wand."

Luna and Neville gave a smile to show that they understood.

"The three hollows would be placed on three points forming a triangle with the phoenix statue located in the center. You would be inside the triangle, Iris.", Albus informed them.

"You should remember that once you start the dance that you could not make a mistake or stop the dance. And no matter what, you must remain inside the triangle during your dance."

Iris nodded to show that she would take Albus' warnings to heart.

"In any case that we are attacked during the ritual-"

"Wait attacked?", Iris asked, cutting off Albus' words "Won't there be wards or any form of defence during the ritual?"

"Ah, any form of magic, aside from what will be used during the ritual would disrupt it. The magical energy of those who died might latch on to the wards instead of the phoenix statue, which would make the whole point of the ritual, useless. It leaves us vulnerable to attack, which is why we must have a plan just in case things go down south."

The five teens understood the meaning of Albus' words and allowed him to continue on.

"Now the Hollows would be encased in a magical sphere. In case we are attacked I want each of you to release them from that sphere and take the Hallows within. I would lift the anti-apparition wards in the Hogwarts grounds during, and only during, the ritual. Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley use the Invisibility Cloak, Ms. Lovegood and Mr. Longbottom use the Elder Wand to cast Disillusionments and Notice-Me-Not Charms on the both of you while you Iris must make your way to me.", Albus instructed them "Once all those are done we would Apparate out of the grounds. Do not tell the other groups where you are heading so that even if the enemies look inside your minds they would not see where the others are in case that one of us gets caught. Do any of you understand?"

"When would we meet then Professor, after we separated?", asked Hermione

"We all wait for three days. After three days we must all go to number 12 Grimauld Place, it would be the safest rendezvous point we have at the moment since the only ones privy to its location are Order members. Make your way to the headquarters along with the Hallows, then we would make a plan to re-enter the Hogwarts Grounds.", Albus replied "That is, of course, if an attack takes place during the ritual."

"Let us hope that there will be no attacks then.", said Iris

"I hope so as well, Iris, I hope so.", agreed Albus solemnly "Now on to brighter things, I had Winky get the clothes you would be wearing for the ritual."

Albus opened a drawer from his table and grabbed a package which he then gave to Iris.

"Huh? Do I need to wear dress robes for the ritual? I already have the one I used in fourth year.", Iris said hesitantly accepting the package.

"Do not fret Iris; it is something that would be more fitting for your role as, what did you call it, a priestess."

Iris was about to open the package when Albus stopped her.

"Before you do that, could you please show me your wand Iris?", Albus said

"Okay?", Iris said a bit confused as to why Albus was asking for her wand now of all times.

Albus opened the wooden case carrying the Elder Wand and took it from its confines. He proceeded to ask Iris to raise both her hands which Iris did. He pointed the Elder Wand at Iris' holly wand and gave it a complicated wave. The holly wand that Iris was holding gave off a small shine before levitating a few centimetres away from Iris outstretched hands. All of them looked transfixed at the showcase of magic in front of them.

They watched as the holly wand seems to become wider until it split into two. Iris gave a gasp of surprise thinking that her wand broke. She reached for it before Albus signalled to her that it was okay and for her to continue watching. She nodded uncertainly at Albus and nervously watched her wand that is now split into two. Her wand shrank and widened before forming wooden bangles.

Once the bangles were formed, Albus waved the Elder wand one more time. The bangles levitated towards Iris where it placed itself on her wrist and shrank to fit her wrist.

All of them looked at Iris' wrist which is now adorned with two wooden bangles. Iris lifted her wrist up to her face and examined her wand-turned-accessory.

"Wha-what the hell is this, Albus?!", exclaimed Iris

"I think you've seen for yourself what it is. The Elder Wand is truly a powerful instrument is it not?", Albus stated, his eyes twinkling like there is no tomorrow.

"I don't give a bloody fuck about the Elder Wand! I want to know what in the hell did you do to my wand?!", ranted Iris, ignoring Hermione telling her to calm down.

"Ah, I simply made it more suitable for the ritual and added a few additions that I am sure you would like.", Albus calmly replied

"My wand is holding my wrist, the last time I checked it should be the other way around, Albus, so just tell me plainly what it is you did.", Iris said in a faux-calm manner.

"Ah, it would be awkward would it not if you are dancing while holding a wand, and it is necessary to release your magic on both your hands instead of just one so I fashioned your wand into something that would be able to do just that."

"And the additions?", Iris asked, finally coming down from the high that seeing her wand suddenly split gave her

"You would never lose it, it would stay on your wrists no matter what force is exerted upon it."

"Would it still work as well as before, Professor?", asked Hermione turning her gaze from Iris' wrists to Dumbledore

"Yeah, wouldn't she have a problem without a wand now?", asked Ron

"Do not fret everyone, it would still function as well as it did before. Technically it is still Iris' wand. Put it this way, the wands you are carrying now are the regular or standard ones given to everyone but just because it is the standard does not mean it cannot be changed. I admit that if we do not have the Elder Wand in possession then I would not attempt to do what I have done. But as it is, we are indeed in possession of the Elder Wand, and the Elder Wand can mend a hopelessly broken wand and make it function once more so changing the shape of a wand is not a problem for it."

"I swear Albus, the next time you try and surprise me would be the day you regret living.", Threatened Iris, but everyone took no notice of it since they know that there is no real heat behind her words.

"Now I believe, you have a package to open.", Albus said pointing to the forgotten package at Iris' feet where she dropped it when she tried to retrieve her wand.

Iris picked up the package and proceeded to open it. She stared, flabbergasted at the contents. All of them were shocked into silence as Iris lifted the contents of the package for the rest of them to see.

"Well, at least it has Gryffindor colours mate.", Ron broke the silence.

Iris glared at Ron, Luna was gazing at Iris' newly revealed clothes with a serene smile, Hermione has an amused smile on, Albus' eyes were twinkling madly, and Neville was barely restraining his laughter.

"RONALD!"

"What?! What did I say?!"

Sounds of pained screams, enraged shouts and joyous laughter carried through the halls.

* * *

"I have to admit, Iris, you look good.", said Neville while circling Iris

"I do not! And will you stop doing that Neville!", Iris said, a red flush staining his cheeks caused by embarrassment as she tried to cover her body.

She was wearing clothing reminiscent of a traditional Indian sari; the same as what the Patil twins wore during the Yule Ball but in Iris' opinion, more revealing. Her upper body was covered by a cloth placed diagonally which does not cover her right shoulder and a large portion of her abdomen. It was barely just covering her chest. Her lower body was dressed in the same type of cloth which serves as a long skirt that goes down up to the middle of his lower thighs which ripple with every movement she makes and occasionally reveals her long lean legs. The whole attire was designed with a primarily scarlet colour scheme while framed around the side with a gold, white, and orange pattern-like design and has a white choli that is worn underneath.

Her body is also adorned with several accessories. There were her wand-turned-wooden-bangles around the wrists of both her arms, gold brassards worn on the middle of both her upper arms as well as gold anklets worn above her ankles and finally brown sandals for her feet.

"He's right you know. You do look beautiful.", Luna said in her usual dreamy voice "You just have some Nargles around you, that's why you feel embarrassed right now."

"Luna, I'm pretty sure that the reason why I'm embarrassed right now is because I'm wearing nothing but a sash and not because the Nargles are surrounding me!" Iris exclaimed as she started to freak out.

"Oh, it looks like the Wrackspurts got to you as well.", Luna added while nodding to herself.

Iris turned her mortified eyes to Ron and Hermione, silently asking them to side with her.

"I've said it once and I'll say it again, mate. At least it is in Gryffindor colours.", Ron said

Iris then set her stare on Hermione, hoping that she would see her dilemma.

"You're being overdramatic, Iris. There is nothing wrong with what you're wearing.", Hermione said, ignoring the betrayed look Iris was giving her "It covers what needs to be covered and it looks good when you move. Besides you have a great figure, there is no need to hide your body. I don't even know how you got that kind of figure when you and Ron can out-eat the entire Gryffindor house."

"But I don't want to show my figure, as you so put it, to anyone else!"

"That's it! Ron, Neville take a hold of her; Luna, would you open the door please", Hermione instructed her friends "thank you now we will go to the Hogwarts grounds whether you like it or not."

It was a fight to get Iris to the grounds when she did everything she could to stop them from their goal. She tried to put her whole weight down, tried to wrestle the two boys holding her captive, and even tried to bribe Neville with some rare plant and Ron with an all-you-can-eat buffet. It wasn't until Hermione casted _Petrificus Totalus _on her that they were able to haul her out of the castle.

Hermione did not lift the spell until they were near the grounds. Luna fixed her hair and face while Hermione arranged her clothing which became ruffled from all the struggling she did. Once the two girls were done on fixing her up, Hermione lifted the spell from Iris. Iris looked at Hermione and mouthed _I hate you_ with Hermione giving her a smug smirk in reply.

Once on the grounds they were met with the members of the Order, D.A., and several survivors of the war. Everyone was chatting with each other and clear peals of laughter were heard. Iris looked at the group of people and can't help but smile at the scene in front of her. Though she knows that this ritual is important for their continued well-being, the entire event has more of a celebratory-feel instead of a sombre one.

Several people noticed their arrival and gave all of them smiles as they passed by them.

"Why hello there little Iris", the Weasley twins greeted her, standing on her sides and their arms flung around her shoulders

"Well aren't you-"

"-looking incredibly-"

"-daring and sexy-"

"-on this fine and wonderful day.", said the twins alternately and finishing their sentence together.

"And it would certainly be more wonderful once I get decapitated twin redheads served in a tray.", Iris said with a smile that promised them a world of pain and suffering.

"Oh, you want to ravage us then?" Fred asked, a teasing smile appearing on his face

"I won't object if you want us served for you to ravage, Iris dear.", teased George

Iris felt herself flush at the twins unabashed teasing.

"Would you please not twist my words into something perverted!", exclaimed Iris lowly so that only her friends could hear her.

"Nah, you're too easy to tease Iris.", said the twins at the same time causing Iris' blush to deepen.

"Oh, what have you been telling Iris, you two!", admonished Mrs. Weasley as she neared their group "Now let me see you dear."

Mrs. Weasley took hold of Iris shoulders and had her turn in front of her.

"Well, you look wonderful my dear! Though I wish Albus bought you something that covers more of you but you know how he is. Can't seem to make sense of what is inside that mind of his.", said Mrs. Weasley

Iris gave her friends an I-told-you-so look when Mrs. Weasley unknowingly sided with her.

"Now, let's go to Albus, the sooner we start, the earlier we finish.", Mrs Weasley said as she guided them towards the phoenix statue where Dumbledore was waiting for her.

"Ah, there you are, please go to your places so we can start."

Hermione and Ron went to the southwest of the statue where the Invisibility Cloak encased inside a green magical sphere resides. Luna and Neville made their way to the southeast of the statue where the Elder Wand is contained in a red magical sphere. Albus turned to the north of the statue where the Resurrection Stone lies inside a blue magical sphere. Iris walked to the center so that she was facing the phoenix statue.

Once all of them were on their assigned position, the gathered people formed a circle around all of them. Albus looked at Iris and her friends and once he was sure that they were all ready, he gestured for Iris to start her dance.

At Albus' signal Iris raised her hands and gathered her magic there. She looked into the eyes of the phoenix statue and started her dance. She made graceful arcs with her hands leaving behind a faint yellow light that fades after a few seconds. She pirouettes around the statue, her hands and feet leaving the same yellow lights as she continued on with her dance.

As she continues with her dance she felt some foreign magic trying to merge with her own. This, she knows, is the magical energy that she needs to transfer to the statue. But before she does that she must make sure that she has all the energy there is around her so that the ritual won't fail. As time goes on her moves became faster, more graceful, and more confident. Her clothing accentuating every turn and twist she makes making her look ethereal.

Once Iris felt the last of the remaining magical energy is attached to her, she began the process of transferring them to the phoenix statue. She made her last turns until she was finally in front of the statue. She raised her hands and started the arduous process of transferral of energy from her to the statue. But before she could even transfer the energy she gathered, a scream sounded in the air.

She turned to look at the source of the sound and saw Susan Bones standing in front of a male who was lying bloody on the grounds. Susan turned her eyes to meet Iris. Iris stared at Susan's dazed and milky eyes, a clear sign of the Imperius Curse. After that first scream and the tense silence that followed, pops of apparition sounded in the air and the once gathering of the war survivors was joined by the remaining followers of the Dark Lord.

Everyone turned into action curses and jinxes are cast all around. Hermione and Luna began extracting the Hollows from their containers just like what Dumbledore told them to do as Ron and Neville stood before them deflecting any curse that would come their way. Iris was about to take action when she suddenly felt the stirrings of pain. The disruption of the ritual caused the gathered magical energy to try and incorporate themselves inside her body instead of the phoenix statue.

She curled in pain caused by the sudden magical influx and was left immobile for a few seconds. The battle happening around her was forgotten as sudden pinpricks of pain made itself known to her. She felt someone grab her arm and she tensed, preparing to fight despite the pain she was feeling. She was about to lash out when the tense and angry visage of Albus Dumbledore appeared on her line of vision.

She felt herself relax and gave a gasp as the pain that she momentarily forgot came once again with a vengeance. She felt herself getting sucked through a straw, Albus was surely following their plan and had apparated them out of Hogwarts grounds.

Albus laid her down on something rough, must be the floor then. She wanted to protest and ask Albus to let her return and help those who remained. She wanted to but the pain she was feeling was beginning to intensify. It came to a point that her back arched due to the heat that is making its way to her body.

She did not even notice that she closed her eyes in pain. She heard Albus muttering some words to her and placing something on her fingers. She can hear Albus' words but she can't concentrate on them with all the pain that is racking through her body. She tried to open her eyes and saw Albus standing over her while waving his wand towards her when she finally succeeded in opening them.

She lifted her hands, seeing a glimpse of a ring sitting on her finger before the pain overwhelmed her and she blacked out in pain.

* * *

Back at the Hogwarts grounds, several bodies laid on the floor, all unresponsive and dead. Men garbed in black cloaks with white skull masks were roving and inspecting each body before kicking them aside.

"Report.", a masked man standing in front of the phoenix statue said.

"None of the bodies here have the Hallows; we also haven't seen any of the Weasleys in the bodies here.", another masked man answered

"The others?", the man who appears to be the leader questioned further.

"The Longbottom boy along with the Lovegood girl and the mudblood are also not here. I have seen Dumbledore and Potter apparate out of the grounds before we can subdue them."

"So all-in-all you are telling me that we were able to accomplish nothing, isn't that right Dolohov?", the leader asked.

"It seems so.", the man now known as Dolohov nervously answered.

"No worries, they would have to return here anyway, if we cannot ambush them then we simply wait until they make their way here to us."

"What would we do now?"

"As for now, try and identify the bodies here. Any person with connections to the ministry, isolate them in a room. Make a batch of polyjuice potion and take the place of those people. We will implant our people inside the ministry once again."

"It shall be done.", answered Dolohov

"Clean this place up, will you? It won't be suitable to start a kingdom in a castle littered with dead bodies now, will it?"

"A kingdom? Really?", the man named Dolohov asked doubtfully.

"Of course, by the moment they realize that we are in action would be too late. Dumbledore's secrecy about this whole stuff to begin with actually helped our plans. With the entire British Wizarding Society ignorant about this turn of events then taking it as ours would be very easy."

"But Malfoy, a kingdom? Here in Hogwarts?"

"Why the tone of surprise Dolohov? By the moment Iris Potter returns here with the Hallows then the entire castle would already be in our hands. She would be playing by our rules in a game that she can never hope to win.", the man now revealed as Lucius Malfoy replied; a sinister smirk appearing on his face "And Dolohov, what do you think of the name Veronica?"

**=END OF CHAPTER 1=**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_Hello everyone! I just watched Fairy Tail: Houo no Miko and this plot bunny came barrelling in. As of now I am a bit unsure as to who I would pair Iris with. So your suggestions would be highly accepted. The pairing would just be a battle between Natsu, Gray, or even Natsu and Gray if you want them to be in a threesome. Just know that your inputs would be appreciated. Please review so I know what I should improve on!_

**QUESTION: **Which Harry Potter Crossover do you like the most and who do you like Harry being paired with? (Hinting at idea for future fics)


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER**

_This is purely a work of fiction. None of the characters, places, items, or events that will be read is mine._

**SHI NO MIKO**

**SUMARRY: **_Four hundred years ago a war heralded by the discovery of three deadly items known as the Deathly Hallows was ended and the Dark Lord Voldemort took his last breath. To ensure that the Deathly Hallows would never be used for evil intentions, Iris Potter partook in a ritual that would seal the Hallows with her as the instrument. But things are not as easy as it seems, the remaining followers of the Dark Lord attacked before the ritual was complete. In order to prevent the remaining Death Eaters from harnessing the power of the Hallows, Iris Potter was sent away with the resurrection stone. In the present time, a new power made its presence known to the Guild Masters, a power that threatens to take over the entire land. What is the connection between Iris Potter and the power that threatens the Land of Fiore?_

**CHAPTER 2: 390 YEARS OF SLUMBER**

It was a peaceful day. The wind was blowing gently throughout the land. One can hear the rustling of the leaves, the soft crashing of the waves on the rocks, and the merry chirping of the birds. Each chirp produced by the birds was music to the ears of the townspeople. They watched as the birds fly down from their nests to mingle with the children. Smiles spread on the faces of those watching as the birds and the children engaged in a small game of chase with the children trying to capture their winged friends. Sounds of running feet, shrieks of joy, and bouts of laughter enveloped the town as the children slipped and tumbled in their efforts to catch their flying playmates. Time passed and mothers herded their children back to the warmth of their homes and the men all released a sigh of relief now that another day of hard work has passed.

Along with the men and women, the animals retreat to their homes to rest for the next day. The birds flew back to their trees and gathered what leaves and twig they could carry. The animals could feel the temperature dropping in the town, a sign that they should venture out and find themselves a new home. Birds flew high up in the sky, with beaks full of twigs and feet clutching leaves. They travelled and flew with the currents of the wind, trusting it to help them find a new place they could call home.

It wasn't until they reached a forest eastern of the town they came from did they stop their journey. The flock dispersed and each found a stable branch they could place their new nests. Some went high up the trees and some chose to stay in the lowest stable branch there is.

All of them spent their time scavenging the entire area for materials to build their nests with and when the sky is finally dark and the moon rose up in the sky, all of them had their new nests they could proudly call their home. Tired from their journey and the work they did in building their nests, they all prepared to take a well deserved rest. But their rest would have to wait a little longer.

A bluish light shone upon the forest grounds, scaring some of the birds out of their nests. The light lingered for a while before settling down. Some of the birds flew down and went to inspect the source of the disturbance. They all approached the source of the lights slowly.

They saw the light originating from an elliptical barrier resting on the ground. A few of the birds dared to approach the barrier and pecked on its surface. The others seeing no harm coming from those who inspected the object decided to follow suit.

Soon enough, nearly the entire flock was pecking at the barrier. Some of them standing on the ground, a few hovering a bit above the barrier and most are standing o the surface of the barrier itself. Their pecks turned harder and harder, all of them trying to break it open. None of them were successful though. A long time has passed and not even a crack formed. A bit annoyed and most of all tired, the birds left the barrier alone and went back to their nests to finally rest.

The night turned quiet, no chirps were heard now that the birds are asleep, and the wind was soft enough that it did not disturb the stillness of the night.

Suddenly the silence of the night turned even quieter when the wind suddenly halted. The barrier on the ground started to form cracks on its surface. Wisps of light were escaping from the crack until the barrier collapsed on itself.

Lying down on the place where the barrier used to be was a young woman. Her hair was black and spread around her head like a halo. She was wearing clothes of ancient design, accentuating her pale skin. Her hands were joined together at her chest, a small ring encrusted with a small black stone resting on one of her fingers.

The woman lying down slowly gained consciousness. She wanted to open her eyes but she could not due to the sudden pain she could feel in her skull. She wanted to scream and writhe on the ground but her body was still, a complete contradiction to what she actually feels. She felt as if her head was set on fire and certain things kept flashing over and over her mind.

"_Iris, you better have been studying or I'll make sure you spend the entire week with your head bent down a book!"_

She saw in her mind's eye a girl with curly brown hair berating her and a red headed male laughing on the background.

"_Your skills in potions may have been inherited from your mother but your personality is clearly a mirror of your hooligan of a father!"_

An adult was looming over her, his hair was a bit greasy and his face was crumpled in a sneer, accentuating his hook nose even more.

"_I'm sorry for what I am about to do, Iris, but this is the only way we can stop this evil. You must protect the stone, whatever comes your way Iris, protect the stone."_

An old man was standing above her brandishing a stick and she could clearly see that the shelter they were in were on fire.

Memory after memory came and flashed. Some were clear, some were mere flashes, and most of them were nothing but a blur. She tried to connect faces to names but nothing comes to mind. She tried to think harder but the pain she feels only intensifies when she does so.

Then, in what felt like years, the memories started to slow down until they died out. When the memories stopped, her bodily functions started to return bit by bit. She tried to wiggle her toes but she could not yet do it so she waited a little longer. As she laid there waiting for her body to respond to her, she tried to connect her memories; or what she has of it.

First, her name is Iris. Second, she was a witch. Third, she has something important with her that she must safeguard. Those were the main ones and she then decided to try to remember more of her memories based on what she already remembers.

She decided to start from the thing in her possession. She remembers that there are three of them and that they should not fall in the hands of evil for the three of them together could cause great destruction. Aside from that nothing else comes to her mind. She proceeded to her second main thought, she was a witch. This part was easier to come to her mind since she clearly saw herself using it. She remembers that she studied how to use it along with many others. She tried to remember the names of those around her during those times but the more she tried to grasp it, the farther it seemed to be from her reach. Acknowledging that she would only cause herself a headache if she continued, she proceeded on her last point. She was Iris. No surname or nickname showing itself to her. She was Iris, just Iris.

With those final thoughts, she opened her eyes, green irises finally looking up in the sky.

* * *

It took her a while to finally leave the forest where she woke up in. It was a bit hard going at first. When she woke up she tried to stand but only succeeded in planting face down and eating the dried leaves ad soil of the forest. She took hold of the roots around her to drag her body so she could sit up and lean her back on the bark of a tree. She tried again and again, but it always ended up with her stumbling and tripping.

It was not that she lost the memory on how to walk because that would be unbelievable and ultimately cruel if that was true. It was just that her legs can't support her weight anymore. She could feel her knees buckling every time she so much as tried to stand up. It was only through sheer bullheadedness that she was able to finally walk a few steps to find some berries to eat. It took her a few more days before she was confident enough that she could walk without her legs failing her.

The moment she could walk she tried to get out of the forest that served as her temporary home. She never ventured outside the boundaries of the forest but merely strayed on its edges so she could observe the town and its people.

She would watch how the townspeople would interact with another. She took note of what actions are acceptable and which actions would be looked down upon. It was only when she was sure that she would be able to interact with the townspeople without committing any mistake unknowingly did she decide to leave the confines of the forest.

She barely did any interacting with anyone though. She was content to just walk by and eavesdrop on some of the conversations, in hopes that she could gather more information. That was her routine for the days to follow.

Once the day would come to a close, she would return to her place inside the forest and try to recall more of her memories. She was focusing more on the memories of her skills rather than ponder on the people, places, and events that she once knew.

It was tempting to just sit back and try to regain those kinds of personal connections but first she needs to survive. She cannot depend on the food that the forest has been blessing her so far. What if the time comes that the forest has no longer to offer her? If that day comes then she would be totally screwed.

She at least managed to gather some basic and useful information about the place she woke up in. She was in the Land of Fiore, in a place called Oak Town to be exact. The monetary unit was called jewels which she has nothing of. It felt wrong at first when she saw the money that was being exchanged in the stalls or the name that they were called by. The first time she even thought of money back when she has yet to get out of the forest, the image that came to mind were several shiny coins in gold, silver, and bronze.

The first priority she had when she decided to enter the town was to look for a job. It was not as easy as she thought though. There were hardly any establishments who were up to hiring someone. She found out that there were guilds for those sorts of things. There were merchant guilds, workmen guilds, even bandit guilds, which caused confusion on her mind since she thought that bandits would want to keep their work as a secret and not advertise it to everyone. Though she was baffled by the knowledge of bandit guilds, she was pleasantly surprised to know that there were various magic guilds as well.

The knowledge that there were magic guilds helped her make some semblance of order to her already disjointed and chaotic memory fragments. If there really were magic guilds then it was entirely possible that she belonged in one. Since she remembered herself being taught and using magic then that conclusion was very plausible. She _belonged_ to one though, because the last memories that came to her mind was that they were being attacked in some sort of celebration.

Those were the things she was almost absolutely sure of. First, she belonged in a magic guild and second, there is a big probability that the guild she belonged to was no longer standing.

Without a guild and without anyone knowing who she is, the only way she could get some jewels was if she stole some but she would never stoop to that level. That is why she would try and remember the things she could do and how to do those things every night before daylight comes.

She never sleeps, she doesn't know why but it just doesn't come to her whenever she closes her eyes. It was as if her body has been asleep for a while and has decided that it has no need for it at the time being. That was all right with her though; it just means that she would have more time trying to regain her skills.

There were two things that she needed for her skills, if she remembered correctly. She had to say something and direct her hand to do whatever those words were meant to do. Sounds easy enough but the problem was that she did not know what to say.

It was very frustrating the first few days as she waved her hands and uttered anything and everything she could think of. Naturally, she was faced with failure each and every time. She did not let her irritation get the best of her though since she knows that frustration would get her nowhere. She would allow herself to sulk a little bit before getting up and trying again.

Ironically, she did her first successful magic when she became too fed up.

-One-

_Iris was holding a dried leaf on her hands. It has been several nights since she started to get a hold of her magic. She tried to do the things she remembered herself doing._

_As of now she was trying to enlarge the leaf in her hands._

_She tried pointing at the leaf and saying 'enlarge' but that held no results. _

_She then waved her hand and said 'increase in size' but only the silence of the forest greeted her._

_She even tried to twist her hand around the leaf and shouting _'_turn bigger' but it still has no effects._

_She tried and tried and tried every combination she could think of. She moved her hands in every possible way it could move and exhausted her vocabulary and said every word synonymous to enlarge._

_She felt her irritation get a hold of her and this time she did not even try to squash it down. She felt something inside of her swell and she took hold of that and released her frustrations._

"_WHY LEAF WON'T YOU JUST GROW?!" Iris shouted, releasing her anger at her failures at the leaf._

_She tossed the leaf away from her and felt that swelling feeling earlier passed. She closed her eyes and collected herself. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She was about to grab another leaf when she caught sight of the one she threw away._

_The leaf on the ground was about the size of her head. She took the leaf and looked at it in amazement. She did it! She actually did it!_

_She went back to what she did before and looked for the key difference that makes it stand out. At first she thought that it was her irritation which helped her pull it off but she knew better than that. There were times when she did not manage to fully quell her frustrations and yet not even a sliver of an effect appeared. She went back her actions again and again on her mind._

_She felt something inside of her swell in irritation before asking the leaf to grow unconventionally. The thoughts on what makes it different were going on and on around her mind. She latched on her first idiotic idea and decided to check it out._

"_JUST SHRINK DAMN IT!" Iris yelled at the enlarged leaf. Nothing happened._

_So obviously it was not the words that made the difference which means it was something she did instead of something she said._

_She remembered the movements of her hands and she knew that she has already done that kind of gesture numerous times with nothing happening whatsoever._

_Irritation seeped into her once again, forming that swelling feeling inside of her._

"_Just what did I do to make you grow?!" Iris hissed out._

_To her astonishment, the leaf in her hands grew even larger._

"_What did I do right?" Iris mumbled to herself._

_She compared her past efforts to her current one and tried to analyze them. It was clear that the key was not in the words she used neither is it in the hand gestures involved._

_During her first tries when she tried to do the same thing, nothing happened but on the last ones where she just wanted to end it... she just wanted to... at first she tried then she wanted for it! That was it! She has to want it!_

_Iris excitedly put her hypothesis into test. She placed the enlarged leaf in the forest floor before sitting cross-legged. She closed her eyes and imagined that the leaf was growing shorter and shorter. She then put all her will in it before opening her eyes._

"_Shrink." Iris whispered._

_At first Iris thought that it was a fruitless effort but the leaf on the ground slowly shrunk, bit by bit until it was back to its original size._

_Iris could not stop herself from shouting in joy._

_She did it! She finally did it on purpose!_

_She calmed herself down but the smile on her lips still stayed._

_She played with the ring on her fingers and her eyes lit with determination._

'_Now how to make it faster' Iris thought to herself._

__pop__

Now, Iris takes only a little time to muster her will to do as she wanted to. The difference between her first attempts and what she could do now was massive. She has yet to do anything complex, deciding to stick to simple things for now and try and do something a lot more difficult later on.

As of now she could enlarge, shrink, levitate, and she was currently trying to perfect her skills to repair stuff.

On the forest floor in front of her is a broken tree branch.

Iris closed her eyes and imagined the pieces of the branch joining back together.

"Repair" Iris said.

Iris opened her eyes and watch as the scattered pieces of the tree branch slowly mended itself.

"Excellent!" Iris stated with a grin. "Now time to find that job!"

Iris stood up from where she was sitting cross-legged at the forest floor. It was nearing noon and the town center would surely be filled with people.

The reason why Iris was practicing her skills in repairing stuff was because she was hoping to make it an avenue to earn herself some jewels. Surely there would be some people who wanted to have their stuff fixed so she thought that if she managed to build herself a reputation of being a good enough repair-woman then business would start flowing in. Heck, it may even come to a point where the jobs would come to her instead of her looking for them, that is if she manages to create a good name for herself in that avenue.

But first things first, she needs to find something to fix.

She entered the premises of the town and her ears were filled with the humdrum of the townspeople's conversations. She tried to listen to some of the conversations to see if there were any talks about broken stuff that needs repairing. So far, nothing has reached her ears though.

"That would be a problem." Iris heard a man say as she was passing him.

"Don't I know it." the other man he was having a conversation with said.

"Can't you reach a workmen guild to request that they send someone here to repair the castle library?"

Iris halted her steps and paid closer attention to the conversation.

"I wish but the nearest workmen guild here is a week's worth of travel. My head would already be bitten off before the request reaches them."

"Excuse me," Iris said approaching the two men "I can't help but hear that you need something fixed?"

"Yeah," said the first man quite rudely "What's it to you?"

"Well, I can help you if you'd like." Iris offered

"You part of a guild, kid?" said the second man, raising his eyebrow inquisitively at Iris.

"Well, not actually." Iris answered hesitantly.

"Then run off, missy." said the first man.

"Please, just try me; I swear I can fix whatever it is you need to be fixed." Iris said, quite sure of her abilities.

"Yeah right, you don't even have any tools with you." scoffed the first man as he moved his eyes up and down Iris' figure in search of any tools.

"Trust me," Iris said as she stood straighter "I don't need any."

The second man rubbed at his chin and looked at Iris speculatively.

"Ah, the hell with it," the second man sighed "Come with me, kid."

"The hell Caleb!" said the first man "You don't really believe that this kid could help us, right?!"

Iris bristled at the man's comment but reigned herself in. But frankly, if she was not desperate to get that job then she would have engaged the man in an all out shouting contest right in the middle of the village.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Kieran." the man known as Caleb said as he walked away and gestured for Iris to follow.

"Desperate?!" exclaimed Kieran "Trust me that whatever it is you are doing is way beyond desperate!"

"Just look at her!" Kieran continued "The girl doesn't even look like she's worked a day in her life!"

"That girl has a name and she can definitely hear you." Iris said to Kieran as she glared at him.

"Oh trust me I know, I just don't care." Kieran told Iris, glaring at her in return.

"Would you please stop baiting the girl, Kieran?" Caleb admonished his friend "Besides what do we have to lose? If she could repair it then that's good for us but if she couldn't well that changes nothing at all now, does it?"

"I told you I can repair it." Iris told Caleb.

"And I am willing to give you a try." Caleb assured Iris.

"Sure like a lot of help that would do." Kieran mumbled out.

Iris ignored Kieran the rest of the walk and just focused her attention on Caleb's back as she guided her out of the town center. Caleb led her to a path inside the forest that she has never been to and she gazed around her trying to remember the path in case Kieran does something to get her lost once Caleb is out of sight. She wouldn't put it past Kieran to not do that sort of stuff.

Iris almost bumped into Caleb's back when he suddenly stopped walking but luckily she managed to stop herself in time. Looming before them was a castle that could be easily seen down at the town center.

"Here we are." Caleb sighed out "The old Phantom building. Let's go in shall we?"

Iris nodded and followed Caleb as he opened the doors of the castle. There were several men and women inside who greeted both Kieran and Caleb and looked curiously at her as they made their way through the castle. Iris lowered her head and did not meet any of the gaze on her person, she feels uncomfortable being observed when she is usually the one doing the observing.

They went up several flights of stairs before Caleb lead her to a rather wide and empty corridor. At the end of the corridor was an impressive set of old wooden doors. Caleb opened the door and gestured for Iris to walk inside.

Iris followed Caleb's order and entered the room with Kieran right behind her. Caleb went in last and closed the door once they were all inside. The room she was lead into was an impressive library. It was quite large and clearly been used often. She gazed around the library and can't help but feel that it was somehow wrong, that it should be bigger and that it was missing something. Iris shook her head and continued to follow Caleb as he walked past the shelves.

They walked until they reached the end of the library where there was a massive cloth covering something. Caleb and Kieran grabbed hold of the ends of the cloth and threw it away causing dust to float in the air. Iris coughed a bit as she managed to inhale some of the dust.

There were pieces of wood being hidden behind the large cloth, all of them seeming to be parts of chairs, tables, and even some shelves.

Iris looked critically at the parts before her. She was overwhelmed at the sheer number of stuff that they actually needed to be fixed. She has never done anything of this scale before, yes she has practiced repairing stuff for a long time now but never has she repaired stuff of this number.

"These are the tables, chairs, and shelves that got destroyed not long ago when some persons decided to fight here in this building." Caleb explained patting the piece of wood nearest him "We wanted to have them repaired but the workmen guild are just too far away from our town."

"You think you can handle it?" Kieran sneered at Iris.

Iris paid no mind to Kieran's attitude. She focused on herself and tried to see if she could do it. Could she really do it? She thought as she looked at the pieces of wood in front of her. Maybe she could do it but only if she just wants it enough. She needs to have no room for doubt and she needs to trust herself that she could do this.

She may not really want to repair some table or some chair but she wants to live and figure out her past and if repairing this stuff would be a step towards her goal then so be it.

"Just stand back." Iris said

"Should I ask for someone to bring some tools in here?" Caleb said.

"I told you before, I won't need it." Iris replied

"Just let her be, Caleb!" Kieran said "Let's just leave her here alone to find some way to not look like a fool."

"Oh, you don't need to leave; this will take less than a minute." Iris smirked at Kieran.

"Less than a minute my ass, told you she couldn't do anything Caleb but did you listen to me?! No! You just had to-"

Iris tuned out Kieran's rant and pictured the pieces going back to their former state in her mind's eye.

"Repair" Iris confidently said, holding her hands out to the pieces of the wood.

There was a brief second of silence before the wood pieces start to move on their own. Caleb and Kieran watched with slack jaws as the pieces of wood levitated and put themselves back together. From large blocks of wood to small unnoticeable splinters, all of them moved through the air, finding their rightful partners and knitting back together. It seemed like a long time as they watched all the pieces do their job and return to their original forms but it was only minutes before the room was free of any scrap and was filled with several tables, chairs, and shelves.

"But how, the woods just- then it, uh" Kieran splattered as he gazed at the new set of furniture in front of him.

"Got any way for us to contact you, kid?" Caleb managed to mumble out as she turned his gaze from the recently fixed objects to Iris who was wearing a smug grin on her face.

* * *

Iris luck only increased after her successful repair job in the castle library. It was only Caleb and Kieran who hire her for jobs at first but then other people inside the castle started to notice her work and they too hired her to repair some stuff.

From furniture to housings and sometimes even jewelry, all of them passed through her hands. Soon enough the townspeople heard the news that there was a person who could fix their stuff fast without damaging its quality who was residing in their town.

It was only those who were working in the market approached her first, asking for her help in repairing their stalls. Just like in the castle, it snowballed from there. Soon enough housewives, grandparents, and even teens would hire her to fix their stuff.

At first she did not know how much she should ask for as payment. With Caleb and Kieran, they paid her the same amount that they usually give to the men sent by the workmen guild but aside from that she had no idea just how to price her services.

When the other workers at the castle started to hire her, she approached Caleb and asked his help. Caleb was shocked at first when he heard that the library job was the first one that Iris ever did but he offered Iris his advice and gave him a paper that listed the payments that the workmen guild usually asks for.

She read the list and decided to lower it considerably. She took in mind that the workmen guild would add the effort of their travels and their reputation to the price that they would be asking for in exchange of their services. Since she already lives in the town and she does not exactly have a reputation, her services were considerably cheaper than the workmen guild's.

Due to her cheap, fast, and efficient works, Iris soon became a household name in Oak Town. It came to a point that she had more than enough jewels to get her by.

She remembered buying a small sling bag with the first payment that Kieran and Caleb gave her. After that she saved the jewels she earned and only used them to buy food. She only decided to splurge herself when she thought that she had more than enough jewels to get by.

Although she could have used her money to rent or even buy a house, Iris did not do so. The forest has already become a home for her due to the long time she spent in there. So instead of moving into the town, she decided to make herself a shelter in the forest.

The merchants and even the townspeople, along with Caleb and Kieran who were surely becoming her friends; looked at her weirdly when she bought several lumbers and glass panes and had them deliver it to the edge of the forest. She paid them no mind though and merely smiled and nodded when the merchant asked if she was sure of her request.

When night has fallen, she had the materials she bought float behind her and follow her inside the forest. She gazed at the wide opening at the base of a tree that served as her home for quite a while fondly before she fixed her attention to the floating material behind her.

"Alright everyone" Iris exclaimed, embracing her inner child "lumbers separate into five groups."

The blocks of lumber floated higher and grouped themselves into five different groups.

"Next, glass, cut yourself into four"

The wide expanse of the glass floated below the lumber and broke into four equal parts.

"Alright, now lumber group number 1, pile together to make a wall."

The first group of lumber zoomed to where she was pointing and did as she requested.

That went on the entirety of the night until she finally had her very own homely log cabin in the woods.

She gazed at her log cabin and felt her pride swell at the sight of it. It just took her a little bit over two years but she finally had herself a home to call her own.

She went on to the town center the very next day to shop for food to stock inside her cabin.

"Judging by that annoyingly happy smile on your face, I guess you had your house built." Iris heard someone say to her.

She turned and saw Kieran approach her. Kieran and she may not have started on the right foot but she could say that she was closer to him than she was to Caleb. Her and Kieran's friendship is a bit hard to explain. You know how you always have that one friend who you bond with over insults that you both know means nothing? That was what Kieran was for her.

"Who knew you actually had a smart bone in your body." Iris said to Kieran in greeting.

"I have always been smarter than you, you just won't admit it." Kieran said

"Really, who told you that?" Iris asked

"Well, all the girls of course!" Kieran replied as he winked at a group of girls they were passing by whom all giggled the moment he winked at them.

Kieran, to Iris' utter horror, was quite popular with the girls in Oak Town. He was tall and had white slicked hair and a pair of red eyes. Iris did not really see what made him so popular towards the female gender but it must have to do with the fact that Kieran was one of the few magic practitioners in their town.

"Uh-huh, keep the dream burning, Kieran, keep the dream burning." Iris said

"To think that I went out of my way to deliver some good news for you," Kieran told her with a mock offended tone "that right there, Iris, is why you don't have as many friends as me."

"I think the fact that I am friends with you is what keeps them away," Iris retorted "what was that oh so good news you were going to give me anyway, dear friend of mine."

"Don't you dare take that mocking tone with me Iris," Kieran said as he ruffled Iris hair "well you see a –"

Kieran was not able to finish his sentence because a young girl tugged on Iris' skirt.

"Hold that thought." Iris said to Kieran.

Iris knelt so that she was face to face with the girl.

"Hello sweetie." Iris said

"Hi, miss" the girl shyly mumbled out.

"Do you need something?" Iris kindly asked, not wishing to scare the kid

"You're the girl who repairs stuff right?" asked the girl, looking hopefully at Iris' eyes.

Iris shared a confused look with Kieran before turning her attention to the girl.

"Yes, that's me." Iris answered

"Could you please fix him for me?" the girl said, bringing her hands out from behind her ad showing Iris a stuffed bird whose left wing was torn off its body and the cotton spilling out from the hole. "My brother was a meanie and tried to steal her from me and then Mr. Snuffles went rip and now he lost his wing and I don't want him to die."

Iris felt her vision become blurry for a second and a sharp ache blossomed in her chest as she heard the stuffed bird's name but brushed it off and just took the toy from the girl.

"We can't have that now, can we?" Iris told the girl "Don't worry; I'll make sure that Mr. Snuffles would be able to still play with you."

Iris pressed the two parts together and whispered a soft 'repair' and gave the fixed toy to the girl. The girl looked at her toy in amazed shock before hugging Iris and saying thank you over and over again.

"Thank you big sister!" the young girl exclaimed before suddenly turning shy "I don't have any money so I brought this with me."

The young girl pulled a small flower hair clip from her pockets.

"I bought this for my birthday!" the girl said "So please accept this big sister."

Iris shook her head ad placed the hair clip in the child's hand.

"I can't take that." Iris said "You don't have to pay me, you know?"

"But-but you saved Mr. Snuffles life!" the girl exclaimed "So big sister must have this!"

The young girl took the clip from her hands and stood on her tiptoes to place the clip on Iris' face. Iris stood shocked and touched the clip on her hair before looking at the young girl who was smiling at her.

"See? You look so pretty big sister!" the girl exclaimed "Doesn't she look pretty, mister?"

Kieran tensed as the girl suddenly turned her attention on him. He looked at Iris and frankly there was hardly any change on her face, there was just an extra hair clip and it did actually nothing, if truth be told. But the warning glare from Iris' eyes was basically telling him that if he made the girl disappointed then his life would be a living hell.

"Yes-yeah, she looks very pretty?" Kieran hesitantly answered.

"See! Even the mister agrees that big sister is pretty!" the young girl beamed at Iris

Iris felt her heart lighten while looking at the girls' jovial face.

"Well, I can hardly refuse this gift then, right?" Iris asked as the young girl nodded her head in happiness. "Well, then that means I'll have to take care of it and treasure it."

The young girl smiled up at Iris.

"Sophia!" a woman's voice called "Time to come home!"

"Oh my mother's calling me!" the girl said "Thank you again big sister!"

Iris waved goodbye to the girl as she watched her approach her mother ad show the fixed stuffed bird to her and was clearly rambling about the nice big sister who fixed him. Iris looked at the stuffed bird and a sudden image of a white bird flying to a younger Iris flashed through her mind.

"Why don't you offer to fix my stuff for free?" Kieran asked, snapping Iris out from her thoughts as he too watched as the girl and her mother turned a corner before vanishing from their sight.

"Well, because it's you." Iris replied "So I'm pretty huh?" Iris looked at Kieran with a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Oh, shut up!" Kieran yelled as Iris laughed at her friend's awkwardness.

The two of them continued their walk after Iris' laughing fit and Kieran's hissed threats.

"So as I was saying-"Kieran was about to say when Iris interrupted him.

"Wait a minute, which one is better." Iris said as she walked to a stall selling cloth and grabbed a yellow and orange one.

"Iris, I was on the verge of giving you good news and you interrupt me to ask for fashion advice?" Kieran asked with his eyebrow raised.

"It's not for fashion, you twit! Just pick." Iris said bringing the two cloths closer to Kieran's face.

"The yellow one" Kieran said as he shoved the cloth away from his face.

"Now was that so hard." Iris said "Now I think I'll pair that with this!" Iris grabbed a turquoise coloured cloth and paid for her purchases.

"Now you can continue." Iris said while she was holding her purchase.

"Well as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Kieran said "Word got out about you and several towns were asking if they could hire you for your skills."

"Wow!" Iris exclaimed happily "I'm being hired outside of the town?!"

"Yeah, turns out some magic guild did a mission in their place and caused destruction in their place." Kieran shrugged out.

"They're not under attack are they?" Iris asked

"Oh no, the mission required the mages of the guild to fight and their town got caught in the action. I don't know why they keep sending requests to Fairy Tail when they always cause collateral damage."

"Fairy Tail?" Iris asked

"You know, the magic guild? Their quite famous since they have pretty powerful mages" Kieran said

"Don't we have a magic guild here in Oak Town? You're a mage right, aren't you in one?" Iris inquired further.

"Well, we used to have one here in Oak Town. Remember that castle where Caleb and I take you to?" Kieran asked as he looked at Iris "That castle used to belong to the Phantom Lord Guild, that's why we call it the old phantom building."

"I've always thought it was haunted by ghosts. What happened to the guild?"

"The guild master went nuts and declared war on Fairy Tail. They lost and Fairy Tail won." Kieran explained "The magic council disbanded the guild and then poof, no more Phantom Lord."

"Fairy Tail is that powerful, huh?"

"You can say that, they have some pretty powerful mages there." Kieran explained "Even the Titania is in that guild."

"Titania? Isn't that the mage you were fanboying over?"

"I do not fanboy!" Kieran said as a blush spread on his cheeks "All requip magic users respect and admire the Titania's skills!"

"Sure, sure whatever helps you sleep at night." said Iris

"Let's just talk about the requests okay?!" Kieran said

"Fine, fine, which towns asked for help anyway?" Iris asked

"There's Tully Village, Lupinus Town, and Freesia Town." Kieran replied "They're willing to pay high so that you would accept."

"How much is high?" Iris asked as she paused at a stall.

"Trust me high means very high." Kieran answered as Iris left the stall when the vendor said that there were currently no vendors selling cotton.

"Ooh, duck feathers!" Iris said as she caught sight of it in one of the stalls.

"Once again, you prove that you have the attention span of a four-year old." Kieran said as Iris went to the stall. "Are you even listening to me?!"

"Why do you even need duck feathers?" Kieran asked when he reached Iris.

"For this." Iris answered, gesturing to the cloth she bought earlier.

"You need duck feathers for your cloth?" Kieran asked her slowly

"Yeah, it would have been better if it was cotton but there were no vendors selling them." Iris replied with a shrug.

"I don't want to know." Kieran said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Okay just, wait for me at your house and I'll come by later to give you more information about the requests okay?"

"Sure, see you later then." Iris said.

Kieran left for the castle while Iris continued to look through the stalls in search for some thread and needle. Seeing the girl with the stuffed bird suddenly made her want to make one. She doesn't know why but after seeing the girl with her toy and the sudden image of that white bird in her mind, she felt that making one of her own was something she needed to do.

After finishing her chores at the town center, Iris hurriedly went on her way home. She ate a fast meal for dinner and laid out the cloth on the table after she wiped it clean. She raised her hand to start using her magic but she suddenly came to a stop. She thought for a moment and the idea of using magic to make the stuffed toy suddenly felt wrong. Something was telling her that this was something she needs to do by her own, with no assistance from his magic.

She took a deep sigh and got up from her seat and took the necessary materials for her stuff toy. She drew the basic outline of the bird from her memories on the cloths. She then cut the outline and proceeded to stitch the edges, leaving one side open. Once she was finished with her stitching, she grabbed the duck feathers she bought and stuffed it inside the toy. Once satisfied with the amount of feathers she stuffed, she began to stitch it close.

She then proceeded to make the bird's eyes and beak using the threads she bought earlier. It was an arduous process but one that she painstakingly dedicated herself to. After several minutes has passed, she was now the proud owner of a stuffed bird doll and a set of wounded hands.

She lifted the doll and looked into the fruits of her labour.

"You look nothing like I expected." Iris sighed.

Instead of the image of the bird she had on her mind, the final product she got was, well, different.

"That's what I get for not using my magic." Iris moaned out.

The stuffed doll she made has a large head with a small tuft on top, a small beak and round eyes, as well as small wings, feet and a tail and is primarily yellow with a turquoise shirt, very far from that noble and fierce looking white bird from her memories.

It was when she was bemoaning her lack of knitting skills did Kieran arrive and knocked on her door.

Iris took the doll with her. Even if it was disappointingly far from what she imagined, it was still her creation and she was proud of it. Iris opened the door and practically shoved the doll in Kieran's face.

"What the hell is that?!" Kieran exclaimed, his vein throbbing in irritation.

"It's a stuffed doll I made!" Iris said, waving the doll in front of Kieran's face.

"And this matters to me why?" Kieran hissed through his teeth.

"It is your job as my friend to praise me for my achievements." Iris told Kieran as she opened the door wider to let him in.

"Good job! Yey!" Kieran said in a deadpan tone.

"Hmm, alright then, say what you have to say Mr. Grumpy-pants." Iris said as she went to sit on a chair.

"We'll be leaving town next week." Kieran said " We'll go to Lupinus first then to Freesia before proceeding to Tully Village."

"Oh, alright then," Iris said "Wait, what do you mean we?"

"I'll be coming with you, of course" Kieran said with a smirk "I'll be your security detail, so to speak."

"Can't I just take Caleb?" Iris moaned out.

"Nope, he's busy at the old phantom building." Kieran grinned evilly at Iris.

"God, I hate this trip already."

" Oh trust me Iris it will be one trip you will never forget." Kieran smirked at Iris.

* * *

Iris has already seen Kieran out of her home and was preparing to go to bed.

She placed her stuff doll on the table beside her bed before plopping down and closing her eyes. As she lay sleeping, the ring sitting on her fingers started to glow. Its glow was flickering for a while before it became steady. The glow became a little bit brighter but not enough to rouse Iris from her sleep. As the glow's brightness increased a small hooting sound passed through the air and suddenly the stuffed doll on the table began to glow as well.

After a while both the ring's and the doll's glow dimmed slowly until everything was once again bathed in the darkness of the night.

Suddenly a small yellow wing twitched.

**=TBC=**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yay! Thanks for the support, please leave your thoughts in a review so that I can know what you would like to see! We will get our first glimpse at Team Natsu next chapter!**


End file.
